Any hope of salvaging engine?

[Rock Hall]

3 weeks ago, as I was leavng my marina, I noticed that my engine was running about 10 deg warmer than usual. I have been getting more than usual marine growth on the drive, so decided to head to shallow water and take a look. By the time I shut the engine down, 3 min, it was pretty hot. Jumped out of the boat and the drive was crusted up pretty bad. Cleaned everything off arounf the intake and hopped back in. Started right up and I gave it about 2200 RPM to see if I had water flow. At this poiunt the temp guage was showing about 180, but started climbing. So I abruptly stopped and shut her down. While waitng for the tow boat, I tried cranking the starter, but it was locked up. Got her towed in and up on the trailer. Found that the intake hose from the outdrive to the engine, had popped off at the drive. Abviously, that is why it overheated.

I went down to the marina last Sunday, exactly 2 weeks after the incident. Tried to crank her and still locked up. Started pulling plugs. 2 of the cylinders were completely filled with water. most of the rest were wet. I tapped it around to get most of the water out, then sprayed plenty of lube in each cylinder and let it sit for a day. Next day, I pulled the manifolds. They were also full of rusty water.
Changed oil. A little less than a quart of water in the bottom too. Put fresh oil and fresh plugs. Did a compression test and the readings were all over the place. I dont think I cranked it enough. On the second test things looked a little better, but still had 2 cylinders under 60lbs. I dont have alot of faith in my test, but tore 2 chunks out of my knuckles and called it quits for the day. Went back the next day and put the new plugs in and tried to start. Nothin. Cranked over but didnt fire. Checked for spark and it was good.

So, thats where I'm at. My guess is that the engine was hot. I stopped quick and either the flappers or the manifolds failed and cold water hit the head and cracked it. My boat is 100 miles from my house. I took a week vacation to go boating last week. Thats why I was able to work on it every day.

I think I am best to replace engine. Dont know what else to do to diagnose repair. I also think a repair would not be worth the money. Most anything that is done from this point on will be on the clock at the marina @ 85.00 hr.

I'm looking for some opinions from the experts.

Oh, most important. I want to get back in the water ASAP. Summer's running out. Here is the boat and engine info:

89 Sea Ray
260 Mercruiser 460 hrs (only 30 are mine)
No repair history that I know of.
Ran great all year.
The boat IS in salt water (chesapeake bay)

I recently had the Drive worked on and am disappointed that the hose popped off. That might be the fault of the tech that worked on it. The hose was old, little flexability. Should have been replaced.

Thanks Guys
Rock Hall

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

The only way to know what the engine looks like is to pull the heads. I wouldn't get my hopes up on salvaging the engine since saltwater sat in the cylinders for two weeks, odds are not in your favor.

I believe your going to have to bite the bullet and either replace or rebuild.

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

I wouldn't give up hope Rock. Get the engine into the hands of a qualified mechanic to see what's really what. We had all kinds of similar problems withour VP 271A and it ended up being a lot of minor things that all seemed to go wrong at the same time. After pulling the intake & exhaust manifolds it was evident we were about to drop a valve. We're lucky we found the real problem just before it became a major malfunction. Some fine machine work by a great pal had us back on the water in no time. I did all the grunt work myself, including standing on my head trying to unbolt the starter with 1 inch of clearance. It ain't rocket science, so the more you can do yourself the easier it's gonna be on the pocket book.

Good luck, keep us updated. We've all felt your pain at one time or another!

Rick

 

[Rock Hall]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

The tough thing now is that I am back home. Cant make it to the boat until next Saturday. Oh Yeah.... Also..I'm not one of those boaters with $$ coming out of my ears. Things always seem to happen at the worst time. We are just getting adjusted after 8 mo of one income instead of the 2 we are used to. I havent figured out where I'm gonna come up with minimum $2500 for the engine swap. I have a motorcycle worth just about that much. Going to clean it up tomorrow and put it up for sale. Boats are more fun and family friendly.

I have gotten about the same feedback at the marina. The one mechanic told me he has saved engines that were worse. I guess I should have them pressure check the block before I order an engine. My biggest concern is what long term damage may have been done that act up till I'm on the water 40 miles from port as the sun goes down and a storm is coming.

I also work for an engine company and can get a pretty good price. Bought all new manifolds and risers this week for about half of what the dealer would have charged me. It's the install labor that scares me. They tell you one thing and then the bill is double.

 

[crazyray]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

well think we need to know what you are interested in doing yourself, Have place to take boat and pull engine out? If your going to have a wrench do labor then all we can offer should be covered by good quality wrench anyways. if you can do the basics then we can walk you thru it step by step to save a small fortune.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

You need to answer the question that was asked. ARE YOU IN SALTWATER? If not, ya MIGHT be able to save the motor..still work/$ involved. If salt, its junk

The tough thing now is that I am back home. Cant make it to the boat until next Saturday. Oh Yeah.... Also..I'm not one of those boaters with $$ coming out of my ears. Things always seem to happen at the worst time. We are just getting adjusted after 8 mo of one income instead of the 2 we are used to. I havent figured out where I'm gonna come up with minimum $2500 for the engine swap. I have a motorcycle worth just about that much. Going to clean it up tomorrow and put it up for sale. Boats are more fun and family friendly.

I have gotten about the same feedback at the marina. The one mechanic told me he has saved engines that were worse. I guess I should have them pressure check the block before I order an engine. My biggest concern is what long term damage may have been done that act up till I'm on the water 40 miles from port as the sun goes down and a storm is coming.

I also work for an engine company and can get a pretty good price. Bought all new manifolds and risers this week for about half of what the dealer would have charged me. It's the install labor that scares me. They tell you one thing and then the bill is double.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

Scatty,,,,In his first post he stated it was in salt water.

3 weeks ago, as I was leavng my marina, I noticed that my engine was running about 10 deg warmer than usual. I have been getting more than usual marine growth on the drive, so decided to head to shallow water and take a look. By the time I shut the engine down, 3 min, it was pretty hot. Jumped out of the boat and the drive was crusted up pretty bad. Cleaned everything off arounf the intake and hopped back in. Started right up and I gave it about 2200 RPM to see if I had water flow. At this poiunt the temp guage was showing about 180, but started climbing. So I abruptly stopped and shut her down. While waitng for the tow boat, I tried cranking the starter, but it was locked up. Got her towed in and up on the trailer. Found that the intake hose from the outdrive to the engine, had popped off at the drive. Abviously, that is why it overheated.

I went down to the marina last Sunday, exactly 2 weeks after the incident. Tried to crank her and still locked up. Started pulling plugs. 2 of the cylinders were completely filled with water. most of the rest were wet. I tapped it around to get most of the water out, then sprayed plenty of lube in each cylinder and let it sit for a day. Next day, I pulled the manifolds. They were also full of rusty water.
Changed oil. A little less than a quart of water in the bottom too. Put fresh oil and fresh plugs. Did a compression test and the readings were all over the place. I dont think I cranked it enough. On the second test things looked a little better, but still had 2 cylinders under 60lbs. I dont have alot of faith in my test, but tore 2 chunks out of my knuckles and called it quits for the day. Went back the next day and put the new plugs in and tried to start. Nothin. Cranked over but didnt fire. Checked for spark and it was good.

So, thats where I'm at. My guess is that the engine was hot. I stopped quick and either the flappers or the manifolds failed and cold water hit the head and cracked it. My boat is 100 miles from my house. I took a week vacation to go boating last week. Thats why I was able to work on it every day.

I think I am best to replace engine. Dont know what else to do to diagnose repair. I also think a repair would not be worth the money. Most anything that is done from this point on will be on the clock at the marina @ 85.00 hr.

I'm looking for some opinions from the experts.

Oh, most important. I want to get back in the water ASAP. Summer's running out. Here is the boat and engine info:

89 Sea Ray
260 Mercruiser 460 hrs (only 30 are mine)
No repair history that I know of.
Ran great all year.
The boat IS in salt water (chesapeake bay)

I recently had the Drive worked on and am disappointed that the hose popped off. That might be the fault of the tech that worked on it. The hose was old, little flexability. Should have been replaced.

Thanks Guys
Rock Hall

 

[Rock Hall]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

yep. Not the saltiest, but saltier than usual this year. Hence the extreme barnicle growth.

I really dont feel comfortable fixing a problem ion the top end to get it in the water, then have something in the bottom end leave me sittting somewhere.

Ok. Lets assume I'm gonna replace the engine. The tech at the shop said to remove the carb, castings and battery cable. I already took the castings off. I dont anticipate a problem with the carb or battery cable. He said if I do all that, he could probably swing the engine in 5-6 man hours.

I'm not an experienced mechanic. I have had experience over the years and have done some good jobs and some bad ones.

Taking it off doesnt concern me much, it's putting everything back on that will be my concern. It's looking like thats what is going happen.

I appreciate everyones feedback and suggestions. This has not been a good boating summer this year. 30 hours on my new boat and the engine is destroyed. Hopefully things will get better from here out and I can still salvage the season.

Rock Hall

 

[northvanwatertaxi]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

not an expert but, if you get salt water again
pull the plugs (number the plug wires) out and crank the engine, the water shoots out

 

[Rock Hall]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

The ]unfortunate thing is, I didnt know here was water in the engine. thought i was just over-heated. live and learn.

 

[northvanwatertaxi]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

When I got my boat it didnt have an engine, I bought one for 1000 bucks and lowered it into the boat myself at the government dock. hey at least you have a motor!
If I were you I would buy a few cans of liquid wrench take those plugs out, and empty a few cans inside the plug holes, wait a day put a socket on the flywheel and crank the motor over (clockwise) then start it if that works you owe me a beer

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

As far as putting things back together again... What I did was...

I took pictures of every single screw/nut/bolt I removed as I did it. When it came time to reassemble everything, I reversed the picture order and had no problems at all. I also labeled everything I removed and my pictures had those labels in them as well.

Good luck! Sorry about your problems!!! It IS a boat though!~8)

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

Are you sure that you don't have a blown head gasket or warped head? Engine overheated and got water in it. What would make you think that the water came in through the exhaust flapper and not due to a blown head gasket, warped head, or craked head?

Do you know how to pull the heads off yourself? I think you should pull the heads and then you'd be able to see the block/cylinders/heads, etc..

 

[Purduebarry]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

See if you can find a good marine mechanic that wants to own a motorcycle! Maybe he will moonlight for the bike? The combination of salt, overheated, quick cold and two weeks of water in the motor does not sound too promising. Ouch on the knuckles been there, get some mechanics gloves, saved me more than once! Good luck!

 

[boatgrunt]

Re: Any hope of salvaging engine?

Totally feel for you Rock Hall. Had the water in the engine disaster last year. I'm suprised no one else has pointed this out with the exception of Cptkid570
, but if you are going to consider salvaging the existing engine, you should ID the cause of the water intake. I would suspect the manifolds, head gasket or cracked block before the exhaust flaps. If you do try and save her, make sure you fix the right problem.